Suspected arsonists set building ablaze in Ogun

By Our Correspondent 

January  5th, 2024, will remain a day of agony in the lives of Reheemat  Modupeola Olanrewaju ,an Ogun State indigene and a house owner at Federal Housing Estate, Sagamu as a three bedroom flat along with its boys quarter was burnt down by a suspected arsonist.

A cross section of residents interviewed by our reporter stated that it could  be a case of arson as all indications point towards it.

The buildings including the furniture and other property in the house were consumed by the raging inferno before the fire service arrived about an hour after the fire started.

When our reporter visited the scene, all that was left of a well furnished apartment were smouldering debris with the roofing sheets strewn all over the ground.

Impeccable sources believed that one Adekunle Olanrewaju, an Uncle to  Reheemat Modupeola Olanrewaju was suspected to be behind the crime and had wet the house with petrol before setting it on fire.

It was equally observed that despite the rain in the evening and overnight, the debris still shouldered the next morning.

The fire began like a joke in the late afternoon as neighbours began to perceive smoke and fire coming out of the building around 4 p,m and had called fire service to see how the fire could be put off.

All efforts made by men of fire service and residents to quench the fire were futile as it continued unabated.

Eventually, some landlords in the area came along with another batch of men of the fire service and the fire was eventually curtailed from spreading to other buildings nearby. However, the building itself was razed to the ground and the walls stood in clumps as it had broken into segments.

It could be recalled that last year October  30th, the patriarchy of Olanrewaju family, Chief AbdulRasaq Alabi Olanrewaju, who happens to be the father of Reheemat  Modupeola Olanrewaju was said to have died through what the doctor termed as food poisoning.

His death led to a series of attacks on the lives of the only surviving daughter of Chief AbdulRasaq Alabi Olanrewaju, Reheemat Modupeola Olanrewaju by her father's family as it was gathered that the properties Chief AbdulRasaq Alabi Olanrewaju left behind became a subject of crisis.

A neighbor, Abiodun Onasanya who spoke to Our Correspondent on the fire incident said “There was no light so it could not have been an electrical fault. My neighbours told me that they saw Adekunle Olanrewaju and one boy jumped into the building over the fence. 

He said that they had used fuel to wet the house and that he had discovered a “strange keg” in the backyard, when asked if he had any evidence that the arsonists used fuel to wet the house.

He said that the neighbours told him that when they tried to douse the fire, it kept spreading uncontrollably which made them realize that fuel was used on the house.

Onasanya stated that nothing was salvaged from the fire as they all got consumed which included Reheemat Modupeola Olanrewaju documents, her luggage and other  valuables.

The case  has been reported at the Nigeria Police Station, Makun Division , Sagamu in Ogun State and investigations still going on , this according to them at the Station